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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Pioneer junior Mia McKaig is the girls golfer in school history to qualify for the IHSAA state finals. She will tee off at 8:30 a.m. today at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel. From left – Pioneer coach Megan Peppers, McKaig.
The bunkers at Sandy Pines Golf Club in DeMotte are not a bug. They are a feature.
Sixteen of the 18 holes at Sandy Pines have bunkers. They are seemingly unavoidable.
At the Lake Central regional at Sandy Pines Saturday, Pioneer junior Mia McKaig was ready for them.
“I was in the bunkers twice, and I got up and down out of each one,” a smiling McKaig said. “I don’t know, but it worked for me today.”
Avoiding the bunkers for the most part and conquering them on those two occasions when she did find them, McKaig shot an 80 for the regional.
And for having the second best score among individuals on non-advancing teams, she is the first Pioneer girls golfer to earn a berth in the IHSAA state finals.
She tees off at state at 8:30 a.m. today on hole No. 1 at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel.
“I’m so excited for her,” Pioneer coach Megan Peppers said. “She’s worked really hard. She’s done a lot of work in the offseason to get where she is and during the season too. It’s really exciting for all of us.”
McKaig’s regional round included birdies on holes Nos. 2 and 6.
“It’s really important,” McKaig said of her front nine. “If you don’t get off to a good start, it’s so much harder to get better and improve on your second nine, but if you get off to a good start, then you know that you can do it. I’d say my round was just consistent really. I had a couple lucky things on the front nine. I chipped in for a birdie on one hole. The green I chipped in on is the hardest green on the course, really I feel like, so I didn’t have to putt on that green.”
McKaig had only one three-putt on the twisty Sandy Pines greens. Many players reported the greens were fast, even after a night of rain on Friday.
Meanwhile, McKaig changed her plans on club selection after playing a practice round earlier in the week.
“I think just my strategy separated me too,” McKaig said. “Because in my practice round, I realized I was leaving a bunch of shots short. So today, I just hit one more club on all these shots, and I think that really helped me get a better score today.”
McKaig’s history shows that a golfer does not need to be a prodigy to be successful. She only started golfing about two-and-a-half years ago.
She made her first regional last year and got even better this year, winning conference medalist honors by 11 strokes. She then shot an 86 at the Twin Lakes sectional to advance as an individual to the regional.
She praised Mike Abbott, a PGA Professional at the Bridgewater Golf Club in Carmel, for helping her improve her swing.
“Play all the time definitely, and then when you feel comfortable, find yourself a good swing coach because improving your swing will cut so many strokes off, and the advice a professional can give you … You can try YouTube videos. You can try teaching yourself, but you need a real coach.”
The bunkers might not be the only inevitability at Sandy Pines. The other might be the nerves. Peppers praised McKaig for how she handled the stress that goes with golfing at a high level.
“She’s just pretty strong in that,” Peppers said. “She tries not to let it get to her. I think it helps when it’s just her and me, and we can walk and talk, and it’s just the two of us just golfing.”
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